Background
The son of Robert Purnell, he was born in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, in 1834.
The son of Robert Purnell, he was born in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, in 1834.
He matriculated at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1852, but then went to London and became a journalist. In 1862 Purnell was recommended by Sir Thomas Duffus Hardy as assistant-secretary and librarian of the Archæological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and he retained the post until 1866. In 1870-1871 he contributed to the Athenæum, under the signature "Q.", a series of dramatic criticisms which attracted notice by their style and slashing censures.
Charles Reade and Tom Taylor published replies.
Purnell founded a small literary club, the "Decemviri", which included A. C. Swinburne, Whistler, Robert Edward Francillon, and Joseph Knight. He came to know Giuseppe Mazzini, to whom he introduced Swinburne and others